You would be hard-pressed to find a Toronto Maple Leafs forward who’s had a rockier start to his Leafs tenure (and NHL career as a whole) than Nick Robertson. Between injuries and inconsistent playing time, it’s been tough for him to establish himself as an NHL player and hit the ground running. It feels like a lifetime since he suited up for the Leafs for the first time during the 2019-20 bubble play-in series against Columbus, but at 23 years old, he still has his whole career ahead of him, and even though it felt like his time as a Leaf was going to come to an ugly halt following a trade request, there’s still time for him to make his mark in Toronto.
Robertson suffered three major injuries after he suited up in that first game for the Leafs in 2020 — a knee injury in 2020-21, a broken leg in 2021-22, and a season-ending shoulder injury in 2022-23. It’s one thing to have durability issues when it comes to sprains and pulls, but to suffer three long-term injuries in three years is an incredibly bad break for a young player trying to stick in the big leagues, especially after they’re deemed ‘too good’ for the American Hockey League (AHL) and have to deal with that extra pressure of carving out a roster spot.
Fast forward to 2023-24, and Robertson was finally healthy enough to stick out a full season in the NHL with no notable injuries. Problem was, he battled inconsistent play all season and while he would show bursts of potential, he would also be held off of the scoresheet for significant periods of time. Combine this with questionable defensive play, and he was never able to fully earn the trust of then-head coach Sheldon Keefe. With Matthew Knies displaying a similar offensive touch with more physicality and better defensive play, he often got the looks in the top-6 over Robertson, which isn’t a great mix when you’re a player that needs ice time and like-minded players to produce offensively.
Robertson finished the season with 14 goals with all but one coming at 5-on-5, and 27 points in 56 games. The number of games he played was the sticking point regarding his trade request, and while being expected to produce offensively in a limited role without a full-time job on the team is grounds to request a trade, you can’t necessarily blame Keefe for his inability to find a role for Robertson that worked for both parties. That being said, with more space offensively and an improved situation on defence and in goal, there’s reason to believe that he’ll take a step forward under a new head coach in Craig Berube, even if he’s only got one goal in seven games so far.
Berube was asked about Robertson’s slow start following the Leafs’ 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and suggested that the goals would start coming soon, citing bad luck as reasoning for the slow start.
“I think that Nicky (Robertson) has put himself in some real good spots to get the puck in the net,” Berube told media on Monday night. “The puck has just bounced a bit, or it hasn’t been clean enough, but, you know, he’s working, he’s getting into those areas, and getting those opportunities. I think it’s a little bit of luck not going his way right now. But he’s working, and he’s skating, doing some things to get himself in those positions to get those opportunities.”
Less than 24 hours after Berube praised him for his efforts, Robertson went out and scored his first goal of the season. Mind you, this was a goal to make it a 6-2 game for Columbus, but still. More often than not, all you need is one to get the monkey off your back.
NICK ROBERTSON’S FIRST OF THE YEAR#NHL pic.twitter.com/Ypk7ICqgNr
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 23, 2024
He had another chance earlier in the game that was stuffed thanks to the defender knocking his stick out of his hands on a potential 2-on-1, which likely should have been called a penalty, but it’s another example of working hard and having some bad luck get in the way of an appearance on the scoresheet.
Robertson knows all too well what his new coach expects from him, talking to reporters about a stoppage in practice last week.
“He keeps guys honest. He gets the best out of us,” Nick Robertson said to reporters after Friday’s practice on what it is like to be coached by Berube.”You know, you don’t want to be lackadaisical in practice like that, you want a coach that’s hard on you and expects better. That’s what brings the best out of us.”
It seemed like a lot of the time last season, Robertson was reminiscent of a chicken skating around with its head cut off. Nobody has ever questioned his drive or his effort level, but when you’re limited to a fourth-line role with an odd mix of defence-first players and physical players, it’s hard to know exactly what your job is and how you’re supposed to approach it. He’s not going to have Ryan Reaves dishing him passes like Mitch Marner or Max Domi would be, and he’s not going to have too many sustained offensive zone cycles with David Kampf up the middle. This isn’t to absolve him of any blame for his inconsistency during the Keefe era, but it puts into perspective how difficult it can be for a player like Robertson, who thrives with offensive players and power play minutes, to really make his mark in a system that revolves around high-octane play like that.
Under Berube, Robertson has had the opportunity to adjust to a system that plays a heavy, north-south brand of hockey with an emphasis on stable defensive play, and although he hasn’t appeared on the scoresheet that much, you can see improvements on the defensive side of the game. He’s had a little more time on the penalty kill than he’s used to and he’s been using his motor to be hard on pucks and cause a nuisance with his stick on the forecheck. Everybody knows what he can do offensively — we saw it in preseason. And with Berube backing him up to the media and continuing to give him opportunities even if he hasn’t hit the ground running, it’s more likely he gets a confidence boost and starts having some better luck on the offensive side of the puck as opposed to last season, when he may have been trying to do too much out of fear that he’d be riding the pine if he made a mistake or didn’t appear on the scoresheet.
The Leafs will be relying on Max Pacioretty, Steven Lorentz, and a handful of in-house players headlined by Robertson to replace the production left by Tyler Bertuzzi this season, and with Robertson’s goal-scoring touch and natural knack for finding the back of the net, it will be best-case scenario for all parties if he finally breaks out and becomes a legitimate secondary scoring option. Having the support and the benefit of the doubt from your head coach can only improve these odds as we move into the 2024-25 season.
